The dreaded first sign of winter approaching could blanket parts of the southwest within the next week.

Nighttime lows in Swift Current are projected to hover around 3-6 C close to the frost territory.

According to Terri Lang, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, Swift Current's average first frost of the fall lies on September 19.

"We're right in that frost period," she remarked. "It just means the nights are getting longer and with clearer skies... we're starting to get into when frost is possible."

Swift Current has a 33 per cent chance of the ice crystals covering the outdoors before September 15, Lang added.

While frost will eventually turn into snow, that type of precipitation this early seems farfetched especially with daytime highs for the next week all expected to be over 17 C.

"Nothing on the horizon yet," she said. "I would have to look up when the average first snowfall is, but I'd hazard a guess it's sometime in October or early November but with El Niño this year, that might be the fly in the ointment so it might be pushed a little bit later."

In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, Swift Current Online encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the Swift Current Online app.